Lanette and Cain | Photoshoot Proposal + Video

How we met: It was the spring of 2010 on April 15th. I was a nanny for a very out-spoken 3 year old, his name was Jasper and I adored him!

He would always refer to me as his “girlfriend”, his 18-year-old “hot” girlfriend. He shared that with everyone he met and his mom gladly showed him or her pictures on the phone to prove it was true. I just laughed at the cuteness and paid no mind to it and always played along.

That spring afternoon, I went to their house and I started hanging out with my little man on the floor playing with the cars he had out. His mom before leaving informed me that she was helping a friend down the road move into her new house and that I could drop him off there around 5:00pm. “Okay no problem” I said. Then she added “Oh and Jasper was showing you off to his friends the other day and the two boys want to meet you.” Giggling, I nodded and agreed I would say a nice “hello” to Jaspers little friends.

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A few hours later it was time to drop Jasper off. I pulled up to the house and right away saw two grown up “boys” on the front steps. I hope those aren’t the boys she was referring to I thought. His mom came out just in time; I was about to walk up on the two male teenagers without anything good to say.

“This is Cain & Jake, Jasper’s friends”

“Hello” with nothing else good to say and embarrassed that I had not done my hair or make-up and mad at his mom for setting me up like that, I stood there looking dumb! Here I thought I was about to meet two little 3 year olds and there sat two very cute teenager boys! Right away I noticed a difference in the boys. My first look was at the tall built and eyes that honestly sparkled boy. Second look was at the shorter, much thinner boy whose eyes were a nice hazel color. Not knowing which name went with which eye color yet, I didn’t want to start a conversation.

After spending some time being shown the new house and meeting the owners I found out that the thinner shorter boy lived there with his mom and the brown eyed was a friend.

After awkwardly hanging out for a while, I said my goodbyes to Jasper and took one last glace at the brown-eyed boy before getting into my car. Once I left and had made it home Jasper’s mom, Erin texted me…

Erin-“Well what did you think?”

Me-“The one with the brown eyes?”

Erin-“Cain”

Me-“Yeah, you can give him my number”

Erin- “Already did”

I finally had the name that went with those eyes, Cain.

He texted me one minute later, he had also asked for my number, and he didn’t seem to mind to not “play it cool” and actually wait a day to text me.

Now knowing what was going through his mind that day, I know that he had fell in love with me the moment we met. The moment I said “hello” he was “gone” he told me much later on in our relationship. Way gone! Jake, being honest with Cain told him flat out that I was out of his league and he should not even try. Did that stop him? Heck no! Cain’s the type that goes after what he wants. No matter how many people try to bring him down. Which later on in our timeline of love he proves that no one could change the way he feels about me. We became best friends right out the gate and our love grew over the next couple of years.

Our Engagement: It was October 21, 2013. I was sitting in my chair playing video games while my girlfriend Lanette was on the computer checking out Facebook. That’s when she saw Bobbi and Mike’s post about the workshop. It said, “Need workshop model couples!!! Nov 2-3 or Nov 6-7. Requirements: ridiculously in love, fun, comfortable in front of crowds, a cold weather tolerance, and preferably engaged. Email me your photo and your availability to bobbi at bobbiandmike dot com. YES!”

Lanette immediately asked me if she could send in our pictures. A light bulb turned on over my head; I knew that this would be the perfect setup for the proposal I had been looking for. What Lanette didn’t know was that I already had her engagement ring. I told Lanette to send in our pictures and said I would love to be a model with her.

The next day while Lanette was at work, I emailed Bobbi and Mike. I said “Hello, My name is Cain, and I believe my girlfriend, Lanette Stringer, messaged you about us being available for Nov. 3, 6 and 7th for the workshop. I wanted to ask you if we were selected, would it be okay if I actually proposed at the workshop? I think this would be a great surprise and she wouldn’t see it coming. Also, she loves your work, so it would mean a lot to her, though I do understand if it would mess up your workshop.” This email was sent out of desperation. I never thought we would be so lucky.

Bobbi emailed me back the same day and agreed to my plan. I was so excited I wanted to tell Lanette the whole thing. I am kind of bad at surprises, but this one meant too much to ruin. By the time Lanette found out we had been chosen, I knew there was a videographer involved too. It would be the perfect proposal.

We were set up for November 6th (unless of course it rained too hard, but we weren’t going to let anything stop us). Lanette was so excited. The day finally arrived. We got ready and drove down to Indianapolis to meet up with Bobbi, Mike and Ben. Ben was the videographer that was helping set up the perfect proposal. Lanette was told that he was there to do a “promo” video for Bobbi and Mike’s workshops.

The day started with an interview of just Lanette, then one of just me without Lanette around. I explained what was going to happen that day. Lanette, on the other hand, was chatting with Bobbi and Mike about the promo video that wasn’t happening. Ben told us that he was going to keep the mic on my shirt so people could hear how Bobbi and Mike directed their customers. Lanette, who was just excited to be there, agreed without a second thought. I, on the other hand, knew that it was there to catch every word of the proposal.

After taking some pictures around town, I was ready for it to happen. We drove to “the spot.” A light rain was falling, but to Lanette and me, it was the most beautiful day we had ever seen. We walked up to a red bridge which had trees growing over it, creating a perfect walkway. As we got ready for pictures, I smiled, knowing I was finally going to ask her to be my wife. Bobbi set us up so I was behind Lanette and had me walk up and hug her from behind.

We did this a few times, and then Bobbi gave me the “good to go” phrase we had agreed on ahead of time as the signal that everything was ready. She said, “Now I want you to whisper in her ear all the reasons you love her.” That was my cue.

I smiled and started to shake. I was nervous, excited and ready to go. I walked up behind her and said, “ I love everything about you . . . I love that you’re caring, I love how loyal you are, I love how much you make me smile, I love your smile and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” As I got down on one knee she started to cry. I smiled and said, “So Lanette, will you please make me the happiest man in the world . . . marry me?” She gave me a huge hug and a kiss. Knowing that this meant yes, I laughed and smiled harder then I have ever smiled.

We were so happy! Everyone there was all smiles as they congratulated us. It was so special not only to know that I had made it perfect for Lanette, but also to see a group of people that we just met that day so excited and happy for us. It made that day even more special than it already was. Lanette was laughing and asked me, “Does my mom know?” I laughed and said, “Yes and your dad. I talked to him about a month ago.” Her mom knew I was asking that day but not how it was going to be done or that there was going to be a video involved.

We continued to take pictures for a couple more hours. By the end of it our cheeks hurt from smiling because we never stopped, even when the camera was off. It was the perfect day and we couldn’t have been happier. After the session was done, we gave hugs to all our new best friends and thanked Bobbi, Mike and Ben for making our engagement so special. We drove to a place called SoBro Café to eat dinner before driving back to tell our whole family. The owner of the small café was so excited to hear about our engagement that he gave us a certificate for free dessert for life on November 6th. The food was delicious, and our night in Indianapolis couldn’t have ended any better.